Some psalms are prophetic, some are historical, some are hymns of praise and worship, some are laments and others are thanksgiving. Christians reading the Hebrew poets from a distance of millennia enter into some psalms more easily than others.
Psalm 119 is a prayer in the form of poetry. It’s the meditation of a devout Israelite believer rejoicing in the greatness and beauty of God’s law, reciting back to the Lord all the varied qualities he appreciates in God’s revelation to his people and, implicitly at least, celebrating the unique position enjoyed by his nation as the earliest corporate recipients of divine revelation.
It's also the longest chapter in the Bible by any metric you might choose. In English, it’s 176 verses and approximately 2,445 words long (depending on your translation). The English verse divisions reflect a highly regular underlying structure based on the Hebrew alphabet, with each of its 22 sections made up of eight pairs of ideas. All eight verses in each section begin with the same Hebrew letter, and the letters are in order.
From the human perspective at least, Psalm 119 is probably the most carefully crafted chapter in the entire Bible.
| Introduction |
| Aleph | Psalm 119:1-8 |
| Beth | Psalm 119:9-16 |
| Gimel | Psalm 119:17-24 |
| Daleth | Psalm 119:25-32 |
| He | Psalm 119:33-40 |
| Waw | Psalm 119:41-48 |
| Zayin | Psalm 119:49-56 |
| Heth | Psalm 119:57-64 |
| Teth | Psalm 119:65-72 |
| Yodh | Psalm 119:73-80 |
| Kaph | Psalm 119:81-88 |
| Lamedh | Psalm 119:89-96 |
| Mem | Psalm 119:97-104 |
